The Bury Met reminds me a bit of a school drama studio with the blacked out walls and mini stage. The night was going to feel intimate and judging by the temperature in the venue Subtropical(Shorts & a Magarita wouldn't have looked out of place in this heat). Thankfully I had a lovely pint of real ale to cool me down.
First up and supporting Marc on this tour was Albert Jones. If you've ever read one of my blogs before you'll already know I love seeing people I know nothing about for the first time it's the best way to discover a new gem. From the first pick of the guitar I knew I'd struck gold. It was easy to see Albert was at home with guitar in hand as wonderful rhythmic sounds emanated from the stage but what I was really chuffed to hear was that his voice was great too just enough grit to make you sit up and pay attention. Voice and guitar fitted perfectly together and definitely proved to be an amazing start to the night. Safe to say we headed over and took advantage of the two for £10 offer ;] and bought both Albert Jones CD's at the end of the night. I suggest if you see Albert Jones name on a poster or gig advert you need to go see him, you won't regret it. If you've never been before go check him out at the Audlem Music Festival it's a great event.
So it was a thoroughly superb start to the night & something that struck me early on was the room sounded great as well. Venue & sound engineer were doing a fine job of making it easy to enjoy the music, The Bury Met is well worth a visit people.
After a short break Marc O'Reilly rolled out on to the stage... this was what I'd been waiting for.
To kick off Marc stood alone centre stage and headed straight into familiar territory for fans with 3 tracks off 'My Friend Marx' played acoustically. There it was right in front of me the driving rhythms of 'Lord of War' my leg was bouncing and head swaying I imagine everyone in the room was fighting the urge to just get up and move. A real world Pied Piper effect. Now some artists are audibly engaging but the really special ones are visually compelling as well & I just couldn't take my eyes off what Marc was doing. You could see the music seep into his very bones and infect him with the very same need to move that was affecting the audience. It was just beautiful to see 'An African Day' played up close. This tour was a little different I believe from Marc's last journey around the UK, this time he had a band with him and they were duly introduced after the solo tracks. It was really cool to see & hear an acoustic guitar used as the lead on one of my personal favourites 'Tell Old Joe' another of the older tracks that blew me away was 'La Question' which started as the wonderful light & fresh sounding tune with just the acoustic but then kicked into a full on in your face electric sound a truly brilliant contrast. As the music made the transition into the newer tracks from the album 'Human Herdings' Marc tentatively brought out his pluggy inny (that is the very widely used technical term for an electric guitar [I can't back that up obviously it's bollocks] ;-) ) There was a bit of a tongue in cheek apology as if expecting a Dylanesque type backlash as he revealed the new 6 string partner but I'm sure he already knew everyone would have been on his side if he'd have brought out bagpipes(ok maybe not bagpipes but you know what I mean). As the set moved on the aforementioned Albert Jones who was playing guitar for the band setup took a more lead guitar style in the band & wove some wonderful sounds into the mix. It was great seeing how much the whole band seemed to be enjoying themselves. I can genuinely say I was loving everything but a couple of the new tracks that really grabbed you by the short & curlies(All right show off I'm speaking for myself when I say short ;]) were 'Reach Out' and the longer 'The Wayward Shepherd' which was a track you could really lose yourself in & showcased the band in full flight. Marc was back in solo mode for the encore which had a kind of nice full circle effect and ended a wonderful night of music.
So was it everything I had hoped for???? Damn right and then some. Marc O'Reilly is someone you should put right to the top of your must see list. He'll riff your face off with an acoustic and then melt into your ears when he slows it down. He's bluesy, soulful, intense & mesmerizing to watch but don't take my word for it go watch him you won't regret it. While you're waiting to get to a show keep your musical senses tingling with his albums.. 'My Friend Marx' & the latest greatest addition 'Human Herdings'
I know I have said I'm going to stop saying 'My favourite gig' as it has become meaningless as the latest show always seems to leave me grinning from ear to ear & a little bit more in love with music but this is up there with any other I have said that about which obviously means I thought it was fantastic.
Big thanks to Marc O'Reilly & The Band(Including extra band member the sound engineer), Albert Jones & The Bury Met.
For everything Albert Jones
http://www.albertjones.co.uk/
To find out how you can be infused with Marc O'Reilly sounds
http://www.marcoreillymusic.com/
To Enjoy Music at The Bury Met
http://themet.biz/
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